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Some time ago, a client traveled all the way from Kyushu to visit my salon in Meguro. He works in the drone industry and comes to see me from time to time. As I always do, I gently placed my hand on his head to begin observing his condition. Almost immediately, a thought came to me. “This person is deeply absorbed in past lives.” Without thinking much about it, I said, “You seem to be very interested in past lives.” He suddenly sat upright on the treatment table. “What?” His

Recently, there is a theme I have become very interested in. It is called the “Three Degrees of Influence.” I have posted some materials about it on the KaradaNaoru training page, so if you are interested, please take a look. https://www.karadanaoru.com/kenshu Put simply, it has been shown that a person’s happiness can spread through a network up to three degrees away. A friend. A friend of a friend. And then, that person’s friend. The influence can reach that far. Your state

Yesterday, I met some old friends for the first time in a long while. Gou, with whom I used to talk about dreams in London in my twenties. And Ueda, a charismatic hair stylist whom I met through Gou. The three of us had drinks in Gaienmae. Though I was driving, so mine were non-alcoholic. ⸻ Ever since Gou introduced me to Ueda, I have had him cut my hair every month. We have known each other for a long time. Even so, the three of us have almost never had the chance to sit dow

I think Japanese people try too hard. And many people do not even realize it. --- Years ago, when my wife and I were still living in Argentina, I once said something like this to my Spanish teacher: “In Japan, there are people who take their own lives because of work.” She looked genuinely shocked and said, “What? Why? For something like work?” On that point, she was right. It is strange to die for something like work. And yet in this country, there are times when that strang

Recently, whenever I go to a day-use hot spring, I find myself using one of those massage chairs advertised as “zero-gravity massage.” I used to prefer massages done by human hands. But as I have come to understand more, I have also come to feel that entrusting my body to another person carries more risk than most people realize. --- On August 22, I will be having a dialogue with Professor Naoya Fujiwara. The theme is “The Invisible World and the Future of Japan.” Professor F

The Distance Between Me and My Father-in-Law On March 2nd last year, my mother-in-law passed away. It was an aortic dissection. More than a year has gone by since then. Which means it's also been about that long since we began our life in Shisui, Chiba. We officially moved in July. Until then, we went back and forth between Tokyo and Shisui countless times. We were rebuilding our living space almost from scratch. It's a 50-year-old house with nine rooms, but these days we liv

Last weekend, the Asia Tango Championship was held in Shibuya. Old friends of mine were competing, each chasing their own goals. Meanwhile, I was in Chiba, playing with Chii-chan. My niece, who turns eight this year. She's completely attached to me now, and every time we meet, she gives me an order from on high: "Hold me." We did the human Ferris wheel, shoulder rides, all kinds of games that put my body to the test. Before I knew it, it was 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. By the time she

Yesterday I learned that Sarika had passed away. Sarika was an Indian woman I met back when I was still practicing with CS60, at a session event held in India. She served as something of a coordinator there. She was thoughtful, bright, and never without a smile. Even though we had only just met, I remember how quickly we grew close. At the time, I was about the only one on the team who could speak English freely, so we naturally found many chances to talk. ⸻ There is one scen

It has now been fifteen years since I began dancing Argentine Tango. The journey started when my wife and I moved to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. At the time, I had two goals. To learn Spanish. And to learn Argentine Tango. I studied Spanish for five hours every day, and within two years I was speaking at a near-native level. But tango was another story. No matter how much I danced, I never felt myself improving. Honestly, I was lost. My first teacher was an Argent

Mr. Isoe, who lives in Kitami, Hokkaido, has been visiting KaradaNaoru since October 2021. Looking back, it is a relationship for which I am truly grateful. During the first year, he traveled from Hokkaido to Meguro almost every other week. Even now, he continues to visit once a month. Considering the distance alone, it is no small commitment. ⸻ When I look back at his original appointment forms, they contain a long list of symptoms: Severe dizziness that made it difficult to

The other day, a client who had visited my salon in Meguro sent me a message after their session. “I felt so much better, both physically and mentally, that I walked all the way to Ikebukuro.” Curious, I looked it up. The distance from Meguro to Ikebukuro is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles). On foot, it takes more than two and a half hours. To be honest, even I have rarely walked that far. When I lived in Meguro, I would sometimes walk to Omotesando. Even then, it was only abo

Today, I took my mother to the hospital. It has been almost a year since she was rushed to the emergency room last July with fluid in her lungs. Since then, I have accompanied her to the university hospital almost every month. I still remember that night vividly. It was just three days before my wife and I were scheduled to leave for Canada. A little after 11 p.m., I noticed a voicemail from my mother.She was not the type of person to call that late.I immediately sensed somet

There was a time when I regularly held workshops all over Japan—in Fukuoka, Osaka, Sendai, and even Hokkaido. Most of the venues were found online, and I quickly discovered that photographs can be deceiving. Places that looked wonderful in pictures often felt completely different in person. It wasn’t necessarily about the size of the room or the facilities. Some places simply felt uncomfortable, while others left people feeling strangely tired. Because of that, choosing the r

“Sensei, what kind of sensei are you, exactly?” A client asked me that question the other day. In Japan, the word sensei can refer to many different kinds of teachers, practitioners, experts, and professionals—not only medical doctors. And honestly, it was a fair question. I describe what I do as bodywork or holistic treatment, but I don’t hold any formal medical license. I’m not an acupuncturist. I’m not a physical therapist. I’m not a chiropractor. I’m certainly not a physi

This happened about five or six years ago. One day, an elderly woman came to my clinic accompanied by her daughter. I honestly don't remember exactly what symptoms had brought her there. As usual, I checked her condition, performed the treatment, and finished the session. Then, just as I said, “Please take your time and slowly sit up,” something unexpected happened. ⸻ “Sensei, my pants are falling down!” she exclaimed in a panic. At first, I thought she was joking. Then I won

There was only one time when I held a free trial session. About four people attended. Among them was a married couple. The wife was living with a rare disease called EGPA (Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis). She relied on a wheelchair whenever she went out, and her husband accompanied her that day. I simply did what I always do. About twenty minutes later, something happened. Her husband folded up the wheelchair, and she walked out on her own. To be completely hon

It happened some time after our training workshops had begun in earnest. As usual, I was demonstrating treatment techniques and guiding the participants when one trainee raised a hand. “My son has schizophrenia. I want to do something to help him.” That was the question. Without thinking too deeply about it, I replied, “Would you like to try a proxy treatment?” Whether the idea came to me in that moment or whether I had already been experimenting with it from time to time, I

This happened when I had only just begun doing this work. The man came to my salon only once. He had suffered a stroke and wanted to improve the lingering effects, even if only a little. But I never saw him again. So I have no idea what became of him. What I do remember, however, is a story he told me that has stayed with me ever since. The circumstances surrounding his stroke were unusual in themselves. He had gone to visit a friend in the hospital. As he was leaving the par

Yesterday, a client came to my studio carrying a CS60. The CS60 is a metal device, sold with the promise that "hold this, and anyone can become a god-handed healer." I used it myself, from 2018 to 2022. So I know its strengths and its weaknesses. ⸻ But there was one thing that always sat wrong with me. It was a person doing the work — and yet, whenever results came, the story became, "The CS60 is amazing." ⸻ And there was something else. The treatment is only a matter of stro

The other day, a thought crossed my mind. The phrase “So what?” may be one of the most destructive weapons in human language. Imagine that there is something you are deeply passionate about right now. It could be your work. A hobby. A dream that has shaped your life. You sit down with a friend, a partner, or a colleague and begin talking about it. Why you chose this path. What kind of future you hope to create. How much effort and sacrifice it has taken to get this far. After